by Jack Pollard

If the summer of 1967 was the summer of love, then the summer of 2014 was the summer of Market Basket.

Arthur T. Demoulas was terminated from his position as CEO of the beloved supermarket chain on June 23 by his cousin Arthur S. Demoulas after years of conflict. It spurred an immediate, intense reaction. Customers boycotted and longtime employees walked off the job. Only a handful of employees remained in the stores to clean the otherwise empty shelves.

To say the stores were ghost towns would be inaccurate. Even the ghosts were on the side of Arthur T. and decided to haunt elsewhere.

Every store had people picketing outside, company headquarters had to have police for crowd control, and two large rallies were held at Stadium Plaza in Tewksbury. The story led every newscast and was on almost every front page. Within weeks, the company began hemorrhaging cash and appeared destined to go under.

Competitors struggled to keep up and meet the sudden demand, with Hannaford having to put up employees from upstate New York in New England hotels.

This was a movement.

Then, on August 28, Arthur T. wasn’t just reinstated – he purchased the 50.5% majority share of the company alongside his sisters Frances Kettenbach, Caren Pasquale, and Glorianne Farnham for $1.5 billion.

Now with 100% of the company under the Arthur T. side, 12% was put into a trust for the family’s grandchildren, 20% would be held by each of the three sisters, and Arthur T. would have a 28% stake. The deal also included about $500 million in financing from the Blackstone Group, which was paid off in 2024.

Seemingly as the news was still being reported, protesting workers went back into the warehouse, trucks hit the road, part-time employees were called back to work, and customers returned in droves. It was like a party in the stores, and two weeks later it felt like business as usual.

But almost 11 years later, on May 28, 2025, unexpected news broke: Arthur T. Demoulas had been placed on paid administrative leave by the board of directors.

Now, it feels like the fate of Market Basket once again hangs in the balance.

Shades of 2014

The board of directors has likely studied the events leading up to 2014 and sought to avoid making the same mistakes. But the playbook is still reminiscent of 11 years ago.

At the heart of this is family.

Arthur T. was fired in 2014 by his cousin Arthur S., then the leader of the majority shareholders. The move came as little surprise; Arthur S. had tried to remove him just one year earlier.

There had been decades of fighting between the two branches of the family, largely originating from claims by Arthur S. and his siblings that they had been defrauded of their company shares by Arthur T’s father, Mike Demoulas.

The 2014 move was made possible due to a shift in voting by Rafaele Evans, the widow of Evan Demoulas (Arthur S’s late older brother). For years, she had voted with the Arthur T. faction, but switched to Arthur S. for reasons that have never truly been known.

Once Arthur T. was removed, he was immediately replaced by two outsiders, Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch, as co-CEOs. The response from customers and employees was swift and immediate.

This time it is being driven by three members of the board of directors who represent Arthur T’s sisters: Chairman Jay Hachigian, a corporate lawyer; Steven Collins, a private equity executive; and Michael Keyes, a longtime business consultant.

By using paid administrative leave, it appears the board is easing into not having Arthur T as CEO, rather than ripping the bandaid off at once. This may be to gauge how customers and employees react and soften the public pushback for when Arthur T. is ultimately removed.

Despite mediation being scheduled for September, it seems unlikely Arthur T. will be reinstated. If he is, will he have any actual authority?

The board has terminated former Director of Grocery Tom Gordon and Director of Operations Joe Schmidt — both also fired in the early days of the 2014 conflict — and is now pursuing restraining orders against both men.

They also fired District Supervisor Paul Quigley – through a letter mistakenly sent to a customer of the same name who had no connection to the intended recipient. All three have now been replaced by hires selected by the board, not Demoulas.

While the board did act somewhat in-line by filling these roles from internal hires, it will be a difficult task for Arthur T. to resume control of the company with executives he did not select. Would these new hires and Arthur T. be able to trust one another?

There is also the question of what will happen with Mike and Madeleine, the children of Arthur T. who have held senior roles in the company.

In the two months since Arthur T. was placed on leave, employees say the culture has changed. Thirty-five-year company veteran Valerie Polito has taken concerns of a hostile workplace public. In a July letter to the board, Polito wrote that the company’s once tight-knit environment has become “defined by fear, hostility, and a lack of direction.”

Meanwhile, unnamed store-level managers have told media outlets they fear retaliation for asking questions.

When the board announced its decision, there was a comment made outside company headquarters by director Michael Keyes that appeared to go unnoticed:

“I had to put it into Waze just to get here today,” said Michael Keyes.

It begs the question: does the board truly understand the company and the communities depending on it? Are they the best equipped to be making these decisions? Even if they have never had to go there before, a professional board member would know where the corporate offices are.

Is a Sale on the Table?

Arthur T. and his family purchasing the 50.5% stake held by Arthur S. in 2014 was never a guarantee. There were a dozen different offers, and some of those parties are likely still interested today.

The 2014 valuation of $3 billion has only grown in the past eleven years. The company has paid off its $500 million mortgage from Blackstone Group, grown from 71 to 95 locations, and is generating an estimated $8 billion annually.

One 2014 offer that received serious consideration came from Delhaize, parent company of Hannaford. In 2016, Delhaize merged with Ahold, the parent company of Stop & Shop, becoming Ahold-Delhaize.

If Ahold-Delhaize were to purchase Market Basket, it would significantly increase their market share. In Massachusetts alone, Market Basket represents about 20-23% of the market, Stop & Shop about 18-20%, and Hannaford about 5-7% — roughly half of the market combined.

But there is another conglomerate that may be eyeing Market Basket: Kroger — with 2,719 stores across 35 states and a market cap of $48.5 billion, but no New England presence.

In 2024, Kroger’s best chance to expand into New England was blocked when the Federal Trade Commission halted its attempted merger with Albertsons, the parent company of Shaw’s and Star Market.

If Kroger were to be interested, their offer could be one that can’t be refused, or matched.

A sale to Ahold-Delhaize, Kroger, or another similar entity would almost certainly mean an end to Market Basket as we know it. Higher prices, fewer staff, self-checkout, and reductions in wages and benefits would all be on the table.

Whether through a sale or a leadership change, the wrong move at the top could unravel the culture that has defined Market Basket for decades.

The Question of Succession

The board has cited succession planning and governance as a main reason for placing Arthur T. on leave.

Arthur T. reportedly favors his son Telemachus “Mike” Demoulas or his daughter Madeleine Demoulas to take over as CEO. His sister Frances reportedly wants her son Mike Kettenbach instead.

Steady leadership is required for Market Basket to continue to flourish when Arthur T. retires or God pages him on line one. Market Basket is not an ordinary store and it cannot be run in an ordinary way by today’s standards. What has made Market Basket successful begins with how it treats employees: promoting from within, offering a generous profit-sharing program, fair pay, and a culture that feels like family. Many come in as teenagers and stay for decades.

Employees are also the customer experience. They provide exemplary service, are quick to help, and form relationships with shoppers. Many regulars have a cashier or bagger they will wait for. The stores have no self-checkout lanes, prioritizing the employee-customer relationship. And they are consistently the best value in town.

While the board insists they are committed to preserving all of this, it is hard to take them at their word.

Why remove the main figure responsible for building it? Why dismantle his executive team? Why consider a successor outside his choosing, including candidates from outside the company?

For the board to have credibility, they need to answer these questions.

At Market Basket, every person senior to you is addressed as Miss or Mister. So in that spirit: Mr. Hachigian, Mr. Collins, and Mr. Keyes — all those who make Market Basket a community deserve better.